A rich push notification is a mobile push message that includes visual or interactive elements beyond plain text: images, GIFs, video, action buttons, or deep links. Unlike a standard push that shows only a title and body line, a rich push turns the lock screen into a small but complete visual experience.
This guide covers what rich push notifications are, how they differ from standard push, how they perform by the numbers, platform differences on Android and iOS, and practical guidelines for getting them right.
Rich push vs standard push notifications
A standard push notification shows a small app icon, a title line, and one line of body text. A rich push adds one or more of the following:
| Element | Standard push | Rich push |
|---|---|---|
| App icon | ✅ | ✅ |
| Title | ✅ | ✅ |
| Body text | ✅ | ✅ |
| Large image or GIF | ❌ | ✅ |
| Video | ❌ | ✅ (iOS, some Android) |
| Action buttons (CTAs) | ❌ | ✅ |
| Deep link to in-app screen | ❌ | ✅ |
| Expanded view on pull-down | ❌ | ✅ |
The performance difference is real. Rich push notifications achieve a CTR of 9.2% compared to 6.9% for plain text (VWO Engage). Adding images or video increases click rates by 25%, and short-form video under 6 seconds lifts CTR by 41% (MoEngage, 2025). Airship’s research across 600 billion push notifications found that rich formats can increase open rates by up to 56%.
For a deeper look at how push notifications work technically, see our guide to mobile push notifications and how they work.
Rich push notification elements explained
Images and GIFs
A large image sits below the title and body text, visible when the notification is expanded. It’s the most common rich element, and for good reason: a product shot or promo banner communicates in a glance what a second line of copy can’t.
GIFs loop automatically on most Android devices. On iOS, a GIF displays as an animated image in the expanded view. Both work well for limited-time offers where movement adds urgency.
MessageFlow image specs:
- Format: JPG or PNG
- Minimum: 512×256 px
- Optimal: 1024×512 px
- Maximum: 2048×1024 px
- Max file size: 1 MB
Video
Short clips play within the notification on iOS 10+ devices. Android support is more uneven across devices and OS versions. For most campaigns, a high-quality static image is more reliable than video in terms of consistent delivery, but in media and entertainment contexts a short clip can significantly lift engagement.
Action buttons
Buttons attached to the notification body let users act without opening the app: “Buy now”, “Remind me later”, “View offer”. Push campaigns with CTA buttons deliver 40–60% better results than those without (Airship). Each button carries its own deep link, so you can route users to different in-app screens depending on what they tap.
Deep links
A deep link skips the app home screen and drops the user directly on a product page, cart, article, or loyalty dashboard. Less friction between the notification and the action usually means better conversion. It’s one of the most underused features in push campaigns.
Emoji
Emoji in push notifications increase reaction rates by 20% and CTR by 9.6% (CleverTap, based on 301 billion notifications). The most effective ones across industries are 🔥 🍕 👍 ⏳ 💙. Worth knowing: each emoji counts as two characters toward the title limit, and ALL CAPS consumes noticeably more horizontal space than mixed case.
Android vs iOS: what’s different
Rich push works on both platforms, but the implementation details differ.
| Feature | Android | iOS |
|---|---|---|
| Large image in expanded view | ✅ Native support | ✅ Requires Notification Service Extension |
| Video in notification | Limited | ✅ iOS 10+ with NSE |
| GIF animation | ✅ Most devices | ✅ Displays as animated image |
| Action buttons | ✅ Up to 3 | ✅ Up to 4 |
| Recommended title length | ≤45 characters | ≤35 characters |
| Recommended body length | ≤100 characters | ≤250 characters |
iOS setup note: Rich push on iOS requires a Notification Service Extension (NSE) in your app. Without it, images won’t display even if the push payload includes a media URL. Most push platforms, including MessageFlow, have documentation for this.
One thing to keep in mind: even with everything configured correctly, the final appearance depends on the specific device and OS version. MessageFlow’s push panel includes a preview, but test on real devices before scaling a campaign.
Rich push notification performance benchmarks
Open rate: Campaigns using rich formats achieve up to 56% higher open rates than text-only push (Airship, 600B notifications, 1,500 apps). USA Today ran rich formats in 95% of their push campaigns and saw an 18% increase in app opens.
CTR: Rich push averages 9.2% CTR versus 6.9% for standard push (VWO Engage). E-commerce push on Android averages 3.78% and iOS 3.05% across all formats; rich formats sit above those baselines (Pushwoosh Benchmarks 2025, 600+ apps).
Emoji impact: Emoji increase reaction rates by 20% and CTR by 9.6% (CleverTap). Their usage in push messages has grown 163% over the past several years.
Industry adoption: Over 96% of push campaigns in e-commerce now use rich notifications with large images (PushPushGo 2025). At this point, plain text is the exception.
Video: Short-form video under 6 seconds achieves 41% higher CTR than static image notifications (MoEngage, 2025, 500 million push sends).
Best practices for rich push notifications
Copy
With a visual attached, the copy doesn’t have to carry the whole message. That changes how you should write it.
Title: Under 35 characters on iOS, 45 on Android. If your campaign goes to both platforms, write for the shorter limit. The title is what users see first, and sometimes the only thing they see if they don’t pull down the notification.
Body: Under 250 characters on iOS, under 100 on Android. One specific benefit or one clear action. Long body copy fights for attention against the image rather than supporting it.
General rule: Push notifications with 10 words or fewer consistently achieve the best CTRs (Business of Apps, 2025).
Image selection
Pick an image that does something the text can’t: shows the actual product, creates a mood, signals urgency visually. Things to skip: the brand logo on its own, disconnected stock photos, anything where the user needs to read text inside the image to understand what the notification is about.
One thing worth trying: take a high-performing email creative and rebuild it as a rich push. Same visual, stripped-down subject line as the title. The combination of push immediacy with email-quality visuals tends to perform well.
Action buttons
Short and specific beats long and vague. “Claim offer” works better than “Click here to learn more”. Route each button to a distinct deep link. Two clearly labeled buttons outperform three that say roughly the same thing.
A/B testing rich vs standard
Test on a segment before rolling out to your full list. Rich push adds some rendering complexity and delivery rates can dip slightly on older devices. Track not just CTR but actual conversion from the tap. See our push notification A/B testing guide for how to structure a clean test.
Rich push use cases by industry
E-commerce: Product images in abandoned cart reminders, flash sale banners, back-in-stock alerts with a photo of what came back. Showing the product in the notification itself removes one step from the decision.
Media and news: Article thumbnails, breaking news graphics, new episode posters. SPORT1 used rich push for editorial updates and live match events (goals, red cards), reaching 5 million app opens per month at open rates up to 8%, two to three times the news app industry average (Pushwoosh case study).
Fintech: Transaction confirmation with a branded visual, investment alert with a chart thumbnail, security alert with an action button. For more on how transactional push performs across industries, see our transactional push notifications guide.
Travel and logistics: Real-time delivery tracking with a map thumbnail, booking confirmation with a destination photo, departure alert with gate and boarding time. The image provides context fast, without the user needing to open anything.
Setting up rich push with MessageFlow
MessageFlow’s Mobile Push platform supports rich push for Android (FCM) and iOS (APNs). From the campaign builder you can attach images from a file or URL, add action buttons with individual deep links, and see a preview before sending.
After each campaign, the analytics panel breaks down delivery rate, open rate, and CTR by segment, so you can compare rich vs standard directly inside the same tool.
If you’re building out a broader push strategy, our guide to mobile push notification marketing covers segmentation and timing, and our list of creative push notification ideas has formats worth adapting.